Hosiery and method of making the same



Jan. 6, 1942. I D. J. HARRIS HOSIERY AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed Jan. 4} 1938 s Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORV gAZ J flair/vs ATTORNEY.

DWI

Jan. 6, 1942. D, J, HA m 2,268,751

HOSIERY AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed Jan. 4, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 5 INVENTOR.

Bil I265 J Harris.

A 'ITOR NE Y.

Patented Jan. 6, 1942 UNITED STAT PATENT OFFICE.

, 2,268,751 7 HOSIERY AND'METHOD or MAKING THE Dwight J. Harris, Philadelphia, Pa. Application January 4, 1938, Serial No. 183,275

Claims. Cl.66173) Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3, illustrate Still another object of the invention contemplates the provision of a stocking having a welt constructed of weft knitted fabric, so disposed that the wales thereof are directed circumferentially of the stocking whereby a run occurring in said welt will travel around,-and not lengthwise of, the stocking. Thus, such a run cannot pass beyond the weltand enter in the leg portion where itwould become visible.

novel manner to im- The invention is especially characterized by the provision of a knitted stocking constructed of two united adjacent sections, the wale loops of one section being-disposed to extend in a direction at substantially right angles to that of the waleloops of the remaining section.

It is aspecific feature of the invention to provide astocking having a welt fabric folded walewise to form a double ply welt and a leg fabric interknitted with the selvedge edges of the folded welt whereby the wale loops in the welt fabric will extend circumferentially of the stocking, whereas. thewaleloops of theleg fabric will ex tend longitudinally of said stocking.

Other important objectsand advantages of the invention will be in part obvious and in part pointed outhereinafter.

In order that the invention and its mode of operation may be readily understood by those skilled in the art, I have in the accompanying drawings and in the detailed description based thereupon, set out possible embodiments of the invention.

In thesedrawings:

Figure 1 diagrammatically illustrates a stocking made in accordance with the invention.

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic representation of a flat knitted welt fabric construction.

Figure 3" is an enlarged diagrammatic representation of the welt fabric connected to the leg {apricot-the stocking. 1

"shown in Figure 1 a ing the mode of knitting the welt'fabric.

Figure 5 diagrammatically illustratesa modification of the invention.

Figure 6 diagrammatically modification of the invention.

Figure '7 is a diagrammatic representation of the construction of the welt fabric and its extension.

' Figure knitted welt construction.

Figure 9,is a diagrammatic representation of illustrates a further the embodiment of the invention in the toe structure of a'stocking.

. Having more particular reference to the drawings wherein like characters of reference will corresponding parts throughout, I have finished knitted stockingl designate consisting of a welt fabric 2, and a leg fabric 3 including the instep 4, the heel 5, sole 6, and toe j'l. As will clearly appear from Figure 1, the wale loops-8 of the welt fabric extend in a direction at substantially right angles to the wale loops 9 of the leg fabric 3, that is, the wale'loops ,8 of

the" welt extend transversely or circumferentially ofthe stocking, whereas the wale loops-9 extend longitudinally or lengthwise of the stocking. In

this manner, should a run occur in any part of the welt, such a run will travel circmnferentially ofthe stocking and not towards and into the leg whereit would be visible. g

The welt may be of any'desired construction and may be connected to the leg'in any suitable manner." However, in accordance with the show;

ing made herein, I prefer to proceed as follows:-

The welt fabric 2 is started in the usual manner on a suitable fiat knitting machine. As will more clearly appear from Figures 2 and 4', during the knitting of the series of courses ill, a. loop ll inthe' medial portion of each course is transferred to an adjacent loop, as represented at l2,

so that an open wale I3 is formed to extend 1011- gitudinally of the fabric for the purpose to be later specified. The fabric is knitted in a length sufficient to equal the circumference of the stocking intended to be made.

Although individual welt fabrics may bemade, I- prefer to knit several of them in a continuous strip from which each welt may subsequently be out. In making a continuous strip of welt fabric, it is advisable to form a loose course I4 at regular intervals, thus providing a clear demarking and cutting line between each individual welt.

Theloose course I4 may be preceded and followed byoneor'more plain courses l5.

8 diagrammatically shows a circular In making the stocking, a completed welt fabric is folded along the open wale [3 so that the opposite selvedge edges I6 thereof are brought in overlapping relation, said open wale thus forming a finished edge I! resembling an ordinary picot edge.

The overlapping selvedge edges [6 may then be topped upon the needles of an ordinary fullfashioned knitting machine and the leg fabric 3 knitted thereon in the customary manner, thus forming an interknitted connection between the welt and the leg, as more clearly represented at ll in Figures 1 and 3 of the drawings.

The marginal edges of the interconnected welt and leg fabrics may be looped together in the ordinary fashion to form the back seam I8, the provision of the plain courses I5, which are then at the marginal edges of the welt, forming a good selvedge for the looping operation.

It will be understood that instead of interknitting the leg 3 with the welt 2, in the manner hereinbefore specified, the welt may be attached to a completed leg by sewing, stitching, looping, or like appropriate operations.

In stockings of the type to which the present invention pertains, it is sometimes found desirable to construct the welt with an extension projecting to a point either above or below the knee in order to reinforce the upper part of the stocking against strains. The present invention accomplishes this purpose by providing the construction illustrated in Figures and 6, Figure 5 showing the welt 2a formed with a relatively short extension I8 connected to the stocking leg 3a at a point approximately above the knee, and Figure 6 showing the welt fabric 21) formed with a relatively long extension l9 connected to the stocking leg 31) at a point approximately below the knee.

It will be noted that in both instances the wales 20 of the welt fabric extension [8 or l9 extend in the same direction as the wales 2| of the welt and at right angles to the wales 22 of the leg fabric 3a or 3b.

The mode of knitting the fabric to form a welt and its extension will be understood upon reference to Figure 7 wherein is diagrammatically shown a fabric blank 23 which may be knitted in the same manner as the welt fabric 2 illustrated in Figure 2, with the exception that it is of greater width and that the transfer of the single loop to form an open wale 24 is made in one end portion of the fabric. A number of fabric blanks, such as blank 23, may also be knitted in a continuous strip from which the individual blanks, separated by spaced loose courses 25, may subsequently be cut. The cut blank may then be folded along the open wale 24 so that the selvedge edge 26 lies substantially in the position indicated by the dotted line 21 and suitably secured by means of a looping, sewing, or stitching operation to the main body of the blank 23 to form the double ply welt provided with a finished edge Ila or Ilb, as illustrated in Figures 5 and 6 respectively.

The other selvedge edge 28 of the blank 23 is then topped upon the needles of a full-fashioned knitting machine and the leg fabric 3a or 3b knitted as a continuation thereof. I

In Figure 8 of the drawings, I have shown a further modification of the invention in that the welt fabric, instead of being made on a flat knitting machine, is knitted on a circular knit- 'ting machine. When knitting the circular fabric blank 30, a stitch is preferably dropped at opposite sides of the blank to provide a pair of diametrically opposed open wales 3| and 32 respectively, for the purpose of providing a fold line so that, upon folding the blank therealong, a double ply welt may be had. With the folding of the blank, a wale on each side of one of the open wales 3| or 32 may be topped upon the needles of a flat knitting machine and a fullfashioned leg knitted thereonto in the usual manner, the remaining open Wale constituting a finished edge at the upper portion of the stocking.

It will be understood that when the welt blank 30 is connected to the leg in the manner above stated, the wales 33 thereof will extend in a direction at substantially right angles to the wales of the leg and, therefore, a run occurring in said welt will extend circumferentially of the stocking and not towards the leg.

A number of circular knitted fabric blanks 30 may be made continuously, each blank being separated by means of distinctive courses, such a loose course providing guide lines 34 for the cutting of the individual blanks.

As shown in Figure 9, the invention is also applicable to a toe construction. In accordance with this modification of the invention, a toe patch 35 having its wales 36 running transversely is suitably attached to the foot portion 31 of the stocking, the wales 38 of which run longitudinally. In other words, the wales of the toe substantially parallel the courses of the leg and foot. It will be understood that this latter construction may be had by knitting in the usual manner the leg and foot portions of a stocking blank down to the point where the usual toe generally begins. At that point, the knitting is terminated, whereupon the blank may be removed from the machine and a section of separately knitted fabric united to the end of the foot portion of the blank by looping, stitching, or sewing thereto one of the selvedge portions of said section which may subsequently be cut to shape prior to the formation of the seam connecting the free edges of the blank to complete the stocking.

Because of this construction, it will be appreciated that a run occurring in the toe 35 will not pass into the leg since it will follow the direction of the wale in which the run occurs.

It is to be understood that the invention is capable of other modifications and, therefore,

.any modifications coming within the scope of the subjoined claims are to be considered within the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

1-. The method of making stockings, comprising: Weft knitting a fabric blank; folding a section of said blank walewise; securing one selvedge edge of thefolded section to an intermediate portion of the blank; and knitting a leg fabric onto the free .selvedge edge of said blank.

2. A knitted stocking comprising: a welt consisting of a flat knitted fabric blank having the loops of a Wale of one of its selvedge portions secured to the loops of a Wale in the intermediate portion of said blank; and a stocking leg having the loops of one of its courses connected to the loops of a wale of the other of the selvedge portions of said blank.

3. A knitted stocking comprising: a welt consisting of a fiat knitted fabric blank having the loops of a wale of one of its selvedge portions secured to the loops of a wale in the intermehaving the loops of one of 5. A stocking comprising: a unitary double ply welt and a single ply welt extension consisting of contiguous plain weft knitted fabric, the wales of said combined welt and welt extension extending circumferentially of the stocking; and a leg portion consisting of plain weft knitted fabric the wales of said leg fabric extending longitudinally of the stocking.

1 DWIGHT J. HARRIS. 

